At the request of France and Belgium, the UN institution welcomed both « a traveling lifestyle » and a tradition that unites “ thousands of people ».
Colorful rides, shooting galleries and the scent of cotton candy, the fairground world joins the list of great traditions included in the intangible cultural heritage of humanity on Wednesday, following a Franco-Belgian request. Unesco recognizes « a traveling lifestyle » rich in traditions and unifying funfairs.
Fairground culture « is a unifying element for thousands of people and the funfair is an important event which allows people to get together with family and friends. It promotes peace and social cohesion by creating a space where diverse groups and communities can meet »recognized the UNESCO evaluation body.
The file, carried jointly by France and Belgium, was presented on the occasion of the 19e session of the intergovernmental committee for the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage, which lasts until Saturday in Asunción, Paraguay. « It means a lot to my community in France and Belgium »declares Steve Severyns, secretary general of the La Défense des fairgrounds Belges association, which is part of the group that worked for the registration request.
« The fairground community brings together all generations of the families that make it up, i.e. 50 000 people in France. »
Extract from the application file.
« All this work (…) really allowed us to look into the history and evolution of the fairground’s way of life, its particularities and the cultural dimension of the tradition. »he underlined, announcing the creation of a « international monitoring group » to coordinate future safeguarding initiatives. « The fairground community brings together all generations of the families that make it up, i.e. 50 000 people in France and 7 000 in Belgium »as well as « temporarily, fitters and seasonal helpers »according to the application file.
Funfairs and their attractions travel from city to city according to a given schedule, from February to November. They are from « of a long tradition dating back to medieval fairs »while « the current form developed at the end of the 19th centurye century ». We find there « food stalls (sweet shops, chip shops), games of skill and chance as well as traditional and modern rides (carousels, Ferris wheels, roller coasters) »according to this source.
MICHEL GANGNE / AFP
Émile Zola thus describes a typical “ducasse” in a chapter of his novel Germinal in 1885. Funfair classics such as rides, bumper cars or cotton candy appear in numerous films. Paris has a Museum of Fairground Arts, which pays homage to this popular culture.
Belgium
